Hiring & Search

How to hire in the Philippines: recruiter, EOR, full-service or BPO

8 min read

In short

There are four ways to hire in the Philippines from abroad: a recruiter finds the person, an employer of record (EOR) employs them, a full-service partner does both, and a BPO does the work with its own staff. Which fits depends on whether you have already found the person, and whether you want them on your own team or the work done for you.

The four options at a glance

	Recruiter	Employer of record	Full-service partner	BPO
What you get	A shortlist and a hire	Compliant employment, payroll and benefits	The search and the employment	The work done by the BPO's staff
Who finds the person	The recruiter	You	The partner	The BPO
Who employs them	You, or an EOR you use	The EOR	The partner or its EOR	The BPO
Who manages day to day	You	You	You	Usually the BPO
How you pay	One-off fee, often 15 to 25% of first-year salary	Monthly fee per person	Search fee plus monthly fee per person	All-in rate per seat, salary included
Best for	You already have a way to employ the person (your own entity or an EOR)	You have already found the person	No local entity, and you want search and employment in one place, for one hire or a growing team	Well-defined, repeatable work you would rather not manage

Use a recruiter (search only)

A recruiter finds you a person and stops there. They source, screen, hand you a shortlist, and help you close the offer. Employment is not their product.

What it costs

Typically a percentage of first-year salary, often 15 to 25 percent, so a USD 60,000 hire runs USD 9,000 to 15,000. The fee recurs each time you hire.

Best when

When you already have a way to employ the person, either your own Philippine entity or an EOR, and you only need help finding the right person.

Use an employer of record (employment only)

An employer of record (EOR) employs someone on your behalf through their existing licensed entity. They hold the contract, run payroll, handle statutory contributions, and keep you compliant. They do not find the person.

What it costs

A per-seat monthly fee, typically USD 200 to 700 per person per month depending on provider and volume, plus statutory employer costs on top of salary. Some providers price a percentage of gross salary instead of a flat fee.

Best when

When you have already found the person yourself, or already have someone you want to move onto a compliant local contract, and you just need the employment handled. Support is often self-serve through a dashboard, which suits teams comfortable running the relationship themselves.

Use a full-service partner (search and employment)

A full-service partner combines search and employment in one relationship: they find the person and employ them compliantly, without you building an entity.

What it costs

Models vary, but the more transparent ones charge a fixed search fee plus a flat monthly employment fee per seat, rather than a percentage of salary.

Best when

When you don't have a local entity and want the whole hire handled in one place, whether it's your first hire or you're growing a team, rather than stitching a recruiter and an EOR together yourself.

Outsource to a BPO

A business process outsourcing (BPO) company provides staff who do the work for you, usually from the BPO's own office. The BPO hires, employs and manages the people. You buy the output, not the employee.

What it costs

Usually an all-in hourly or monthly rate per seat that covers salary, office, equipment, supervision and the BPO's margin. It is simple to budget, but you pay that margin for as long as the arrangement runs.

Best when

When the work is well defined and repeatable, such as high-volume customer support, and you would rather not manage people directly. The trade-off is control: the staff work for the BPO, you have less say in who is on your account, and the knowledge stays with the BPO if you leave.

A simple way to decide

The decision comes down to two questions: have you already found the person, and do you want them on your own team or the work done for you?

If you only need help finding someone and already have a way to employ them, a recruiter is enough.
If you have found the person and just need them employed compliantly, an EOR is enough.
If you need both, a full-service partner covers it in one place.
If you want the work done rather than a person on your team, a BPO is built for that.

There is no single right answer. The best option is the one that matches what you already have in place and how much of the process you want to run yourself.

What about setting up your own entity?

Registering your own Philippine company is a way to employ people, not a way to find them, so it sits alongside the options above rather than replacing them. You become the direct legal employer and run payroll and compliance yourself, either in-house or through a local accounting firm.

What it costs

A foreign-owned entity generally needs around USD 200,000 in paid-up capital under the Foreign Investments Act, plus registration, legal costs and up to 5 months of setup before anyone starts.

Best when

When you are building a large local team (roughly 15 people or more), need a physical office, or want full control over employment policy. For a first hire, it is usually far more cost and time than the situation needs.

Questions to ask any provider

Whichever option you choose, these questions show quickly how a provider really works:

Who is the legal employer, and whose name is on the contract?
Is the fee fixed, or a percentage of salary?
Are the 13th-month pay and statutory contributions included in the quote, or added on top?
What happens if the hire doesn't work out in the first 90 days?
Does the person work directly with your team, or through the provider's managers?
If you leave, can the person stay with you?